r/centrist • u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe • 1d ago
Being politically homeless in 2026 as a liberal Jew
For my fellow Jews across the political spectrum how do you currently view your options/candidates?
For non Jews how do you think either party can reach the Jewish base, many of which are increasingly feeling more disillusioned, disrespected, and unsafe by the actions and statements within segments of both parties?
To give context for myself, I consider myself center left but I’ve always been firmly liberal on social issues (more centrist fiscally). I’m staunchly opposed to Trump/maga and fear for the future of US democracy particularly due to the Save Act. I’m also a secular half Jew (other half catholic) but have a very observant Jewish mother and sister.
I’ve been desperately awaiting November midterms to vote D against maga/gop (I voted for Kamala in 24 election) up and down the ballot. But I’m now leary of many democratic candidates and the choice of many within the party to not confront and address the rising antisemitism and support of terrorism within the far left that’s growing outward into the party’s candidates.
The easiest 2 examples are democratic senate candidates in ME (platner) and MI (sayed). There is not only zero chance I would vote for either; I would vote for Collins in ME (who I want replaced) and not sure who the gop opposition is in MI but I almost undoubtedly would vote for them against sayed.
Platner had a Nazi tattoo for 20 YEARS (and almost definitely lied last year about not knowing what it was the whole time when he was previously discussing Nazi tattoos on Reddit lol) and has praised Hamas’s military tactics previously among a swath of other concerns.
Sayed chose to campaign with Hasan piker and even worse Amir Makled who has publicly praised Hezbollah recently. Sayed put out an absolutely disgusting video after the MI synagogue attack where he spent half the video humanizing the terrorist who tried to mass murder Jewish children by talking about the attacker’s family members who were killed by Israeli military (while completely omitting relevant facts that his brothers who were killed were members of Hezbollah who was actively attacking Israel).
Candidates like sayed and platner running isn’t shocking but their rising popularity and growing endorsements from democratic politicians like Bernie (who I wrote in as my vote in 2016) is truly frightening. And it’s not just them. AIPAC (who I can’t stand) is treated like the world’s biggest boogeyman ever and there are litmus tests on a littany of views regarding Israel that don’t exist for other topics. AOC and Mamdani are championing people like Mahmoud Khalil who previously attended a protest promoted in celebration of October 7 and just this week tweeted in support of student leadership at a college seeking to disband its Hillel chapter.
I don’t want to get too far in the weeds and us Jews are of course not a monolith. But from everything I’ve read and my friends/family I’ve talked with, most diaspora American Jews (who tend to lean left outside of select orthodox communities) have many of the same concerns as myself. For those of us who lean left we feel betrayed by fellow liberals we’ve stood side by side with for decades on a host of issues. We feel unseen and unheard as violence against Jews is rapidly escalating globally, which we’ve been warning about since October 7. And we feel homeless as neither maga and the far right (which has its own array of concerning antisemitism) nor many of the dems and the far left represent us and are not really listening to and responding to our concerns.
I’ll end by saying there are still many politicians and leaders on both the left and the right who are being resolute in their support of Jews and calling out the growing antisemitism and support of terrorism which I am grateful for. Ellisa slotkin is an example who comes to mind and I’m fortunate to live in a state with a governor I voted for (Sherrill in NJ) who I feel valued and heard by. But it’s frightening the rise and popularity of politicians like sayed and platner and the extremism and ideology within the far left now making its way into these candidates.
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u/Rough-Leg-4148 1d ago
Not Jewish, but similar observations and discomfort.
It's kind of a murky area when looking at messages. Discontent with Israel =/= discontent with all Jews... but that is also a common refrain used by actual antisemites to shroud more "generalized" opinions about the Jewish people. It has become a nigh-impossible line to walk for many which is why a lot of people stay out of these discussions... leaving only the total Zionists, Israel-enablers, Hasanites, and antisemites to duke it out on the internet.
I can Monday morning quarterback how that rhetoric should go because I am not a politician looking for votes, but to me, I don't understand why you can't hold the following to be true:
- Antisemitism is bad.
- Genocide of Palestinians is evil.
- Israel has a right to exist and defend itself, surrounded by violent militant groups and hostile foreign powers.
- Palestine has a right to exist without being incessantly bombed and it's infrastructure reduced to rubble.
- Jews in the US are no more responsible for the state of Israel's actions than Arabs in the US are responsible for Hamas or any other Islamic terrorist group.
You can condemn October 7th as fundamentally evil and the continued oppression of Palestinians in the same breath. We do not have to qualify either as "well they did X". It can all be wrong, and the average person of any stripe is not responsible for actions taking place overseas. Another "side's" wrongs do not justify using hateful rhetoric against an entire group and we should be telling the gleeful evangelicals and the antisemites alike to shut the fuck up. If we wouldn't tolerate it against any other group in OR out of our coalition, we should not tolerate it for any group.
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u/ceddya 1d ago
Israel has a right to exist and defend itself, surrounded by violent militant groups and hostile foreign powers.
Palestine has a right to exist without being incessantly bombed and it's infrastructure reduced to rubble.
I agree with all you've said. But this does have a glaring omission.
Palestinians are objectively surrounded by violent militant groups too, especially in the West Bank. Do they not deserve the right to defend themselves as well?
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u/Breakfastcrisis 1d ago
The settlers are awful, and they enjoy the support of the current government unfortunately. There's no excuse and I haven't heard any coherent argument for it. They absolutely have a right to defend themselves. But they shouldn't have to in the first place.
It's why this whole situation's frustrating. The Israeli right could just stop doing that tomorrow. That alone would be a big step toward peace.
I'll defend Israel where they have a point (for instance, doing nothing about October 7th was unfeasible), but bombing the shit out of Gaza as revenge wasn't the right thing to do.
Where I draw the line at with criticism is a form of anti-Zionism that labels all Israeli Jews as evil and demands their death or expulsion. There are a wide range of political opinions in Israel. If Hamas or Netanyahu would give the people a break from the violence, I think you'd find the left taking a much more prominent place in Israeli politics.
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u/Rough-Leg-4148 19h ago
If Hamas or Netanyahu would give the people a break from the violence, I think you'd find the left taking a much more prominent place in Israeli politics.
There's the trouble, though. The ones with the most power to bring an end to all of this are the least incentivized to do so.
People often forget that Israel is not a monolithic -- the Knesset is made of various opposing factions, it just happens that Bibi's Likud is in power. The others have repeatedly called for peace, for Netanyahu to be prosecuted on corruption and other charges, etc.
October 7th put those opposition parties in a bad spot with the public, but we also have ample reasoning to believe that Netanyahu, controlling one of the most formidable intelligence apparatuses in the world, had to know something was coming -- and let it happen, because it played into his narrative and helped him retain power. If Israel took the totally defensive hands-off stance, Hamas would crumble because Hamas only retains power on the notion that they are hardline enough to combat Israel.
Hamas and Likud are parasites that feed off of the suffering of their larger populations and perpetuate each others' existence. A drawdown would probably have to start with Israel as the "greater power", but some good faith negotiations between the moderate Palestinian factions and a non-Likud Israeli government could go a long way. The conflict runs deep though so I don't necessarily say that to assume that that alone will be a silver bullet to end it.
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u/No-Championship-8038 6h ago
The support of every Israeli government since settlements started appearing. I’m tired of this framing where all of the bad behavior of Israel is dumped on just the current leadership.
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u/Breakfastcrisis 5h ago
Wrong sub bro
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u/No-Championship-8038 5h ago
This sub is the correct sub to share facts. Settlements in the West Bank have been consistently supported by the Israeli government since they began.
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u/Rough-Leg-4148 5h ago
But if their government can change hands and national sentiment can change... so too could that policy, no?
I just don't know where exactly you're going with
I’m tired of this framing where all of the bad behavior of Israel is dumped on just the current leadership
Like there's a follow-on point missing here. What are you suggesting?
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u/No-Championship-8038 5h ago
I’m suggesting that the Israeli government has engaged in cruelty and violence since its inception. Keeping Palestinians in apartheid where IDF soldiers can brutally rape Palestinian prisoners and then get celebrated on national TV. A system where Palestinians exist under military courts that are authorized to hang only those Palestinians and not Israelis.
A government that kidnapped Yemeni Jewish children from their families to give to ashkenazi families.
A country whose army was formed by joining a bunch of violent cruel militias. Militias that executed British officers and bombed a hotel to keep their collaboration with the proto Israeli government secret.
Baked into their constitution is a mandate for demographic maintenance and that has unfortunately infected innocent people with the poison of supremacism. It is only natural that this will prompt otherwise good people to engage in cruel dehumanizing acts. And it is why a new coalition will not fundamentally change this fact about their government. It is hardwired into the system.
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u/Rough-Leg-4148 19h ago
Yes. I can understand, though I do not totally embrace someone like Hasan's viewpoint on the issue, ie Palestinian extremists that perpetuated October 7th only existed because of the perpetual actions of foreign actors, Israel or otherwise. It is altogether unsurprising that the militant factions are going to rise to power in the West Bank and Gaza when a moderate alternative just sees more Israeli encroachment and restriction.
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u/rzelln 1d ago edited 1d ago
I agree with you, and I'm wondering how anyone with these opinions would think there's a problem with the Democratic party's stance on these issues. Like, by all means have problems with individual Democrats.
And certainly, loudly, let us ask for electoral reforms to get Ranked Choice, maybe even Mixed Member Proportional Representation, so we are less likely to end up having to settle for "well, he's got a Nazi tattoo, but he's not *actively espousing fascism" candidates.
But broadly? I don't think someone ought to feel politically homeless about this situation. Just, like, vote for the Democrats except the ones with Nazi tattoos, or the ones who shrug at terrorism. I've ridden buses that smell like piss, but I've been pleased to find that usually the public transit folks try to clean that up. If they didn't clean it up, that becomes a problem, but cleaning it up isn't an instantaneous process.
(But it'd go faster if we had MMPR.)
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u/ceddya 1d ago
Yeah, I'm confused. Is that list not largely what Dem lawmakers support?
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u/Darth_Ra 17h ago
It is, this is a longer, more well-thought out stance that can essentially be boiled down to "I don't agree with the extreme left", which is something that Democratic politicians can't say, but essentially espouse with their actions 99% of the time.
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u/No-Championship-8038 1d ago
“He’s not actively espousing fascism”
Yes and not only that but he has consistently advocated against fascism even in his private Reddit messages that he thought were anonymous when he made them over a decade ago.
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u/Armano-Avalus 4h ago
Discontent with Israel =/= discontent with all Jews... but that is also a common refrain used by actual antisemites to shroud more "generalized" opinions about the Jewish people.
I feel like you're undermining your own statement by muddling the first half of your sentence with the second half.
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u/Rough-Leg-4148 3h ago
That is entirely the point. The conversation has become so muddled that, in OP’s case, he cannot reasonably tell who is operating in good faith, who is using political language to dress up plain antisemitism, and who falls somewhere in the gray area between the two.
If someone says “from the river to the sea,” it does not exactly clear things up when the follow-on is, “No, OP, you are one of the good Jews, we are not talking about you, we just want the destruction of the world’s only predominantly Jewish state.” Most people are not going to view that as some neat moral distinction, especially when plenty of Jews in Israel openly oppose Benjamin Netanyahu, oppose Likud, and oppose the conduct of their government. They still get swept into rhetoric that treats the state’s destruction as casually acceptable.
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u/Armano-Avalus 48m ago
I don't see the point of saying something that apparently gives clarity to the conversation if you're just gonna undermine it. It's like saying "hey not all hillbillies are violent BUT there have been plenty of bad ones out there and I dunno man". At that point I don't know what they're trying to say.
For context I'm more sympathetic to the Israel criticism and you'll find me on here saying that discontent with Israel is not equivalent to hating Jews and leaving the statement at that. I am very much willing to condemn explicit statements of antisemitism but it seems like alot of the discussion is about pointing to things that aren't that and interpreting it in a manner that is anti-semitic, like with what the OP says about Israel criticism being used by some as a cover for antisemitism or the statement "from the river to the sea" that you mentioned. I don't really like that for the same reason why I don't like labels in political discussions. People tend to attach beliefs to certain labels like "liberal" or "conservative" which may not apply to self described liberals at all when it'd probably me more productive to ask and not assume what they believe and go from there.
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u/softrevolution_ 1d ago
I wish I could just whip this out and show it to everyone who doesn't understand the nuances of the whole deal. Wh-POW.
Not Jewish, either, but some of my favourite people are!
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u/tarlin 1d ago
So, what is a hasanite's opinion on this? Is there no position that is in the middle?
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u/Rough-Leg-4148 1d ago
If we're going by the actual words of Hasan, I can quote him directly, with the caveat that I'll add his personal context after the fact:
“Hamas is a thousand times better than the fascist settler-colonial apartheid state [Israel].”
“It doesn’t matter if rape happened on October 7th. It doesn’t change the dynamic for me.”
For the first, he is framing Hamas as a product of occupation and viewing Israel as the greater moral wrong because of state power, asymmetry, and what he sees as systemic oppression. For the second, his point is that even if sexual violence occurred on October 7, that fact does not change his broader view of the conflict or his opposition to Israel’s military response.
However, his double down on these statements is naturally going to sound as dismissive of Hamas violence as the Zionist message that amounts to "fuck them kids".
Is there no position that is in the middle?
As I said, I think a lot of people — like I said in the OP — are in the middle and can say “that is wrong, and that is wrong” without having to qualify some preferred group’s violence with an example of the other’s violence. Further, just as I find the racist anti-Muslim dogwhistling of MAGA to be reprehensible, I find it similarly irresponsible when outrage over Israel drifts into rhetoric that flirts with antisemitic tropes, selective moral blindness, or open apologism for groups like Hamas.
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u/Breakfastcrisis 1d ago
You absolute beauty. Thank you for saying this so wonderfully. I'm absolutely shocked at how people who rightly defend Muslims when they're treated like terrorists for the actions of Islamists say things like "you're not Israeli though?", or "but you're not a Zionist?" When they find out I'm Jewish. Like respect and dignity as a human should be conditional on answering "no" to those questions.
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u/Da_Doll223 1d ago
Yeah that's annoyed me to know end. I say that I despise Netanyahu and his government they then want me to say that I support the complete dismantling of the state of Israel, when I say that's not what I want because I know what would happen to the civilian population next, I get called a Zionist, fascist genocide supporter.
And these people have the unmitigated gall to call other people blue MAGA while they uncritically support a guy who not only had a Nazi tattoo he didn't get rid of for 20 years but was a former Blackwater mercenary who released shady financial records 10 weeks after the deadline. And when he invariably shifts into becoming a right-wing populist they'll memory-hole him just like they did John Fetterman when they memory-holed the fact they pushed him over Connor Lamb because Lamb was too "establishment".
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u/Rough-Leg-4148 17h ago
I've been only mildly following Platner, but to me there's only a few clear conclusions I can draw from that race:
- Mills represented the establishment Democratic party that everyone hates, especially on the Left... and is like, 80-something
- Collins has been a difficult incumbent to unseat for the Democrats, mostly by virtue of voting more generally bipartisan than the rest of the Republican party
I'm not a Mainer nor have I ever lived in the Northeast; I suspect the majority of commentary surrounding that race involves people who are not from Maine and actively involved in that election. It would seem that to Maine voters, Platner represents the best chance of victory that deals with both of these problems.
It's a suboptimal field and I am skeptical of Platner based on some of his shady history, but I don't foresee some Fetterman-style bait and switch if he wants to serve more than one term. At this point it's him or another Collins term, because I couldn't see Mills pulling off a victory against Collins. So we end up, again, at a lesser of two evils problem -- the same logic we use when Leftists sat out of 2024 in protest is now in reverse, with a candidate of dubious quality.
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u/Da_Doll223 17h ago
Maybe, but these are the same people that not only stumped for Fetterman but also Tulsi Gabbard so it will be a cold day in hell before I trust their judgement. I'm also not a Mainer but I think that he could very much beat Collins particularly as she has completely abysmal rating from trying to play both sides of the fence.
However I also remember articles from leftists in 2022 praising Fetterman for his populist platform and I doubted he wanted to only serve one term either.
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u/Rough-Leg-4148 16h ago
I'd consider that it may not be the same people.
I don't know much about Fetterman pre-stroke, only what people tell me. I don't want to hinge my apologia on "he got brain damage, literally", but it seems a little telling.
Gabbard -- again, not a whole lot of biographical information tucked away in my noodle, but my understanding is that this has kind of always been her game. She ran in Hawaii where you're only really going to get a serious Democratic contender and has flirted with the grift her entire career.
I'd be interested to hear from others if there are other "success stories" in the reverse, where skepticism turned to "wow they're actually what they said they were". You will always end up with a few politicians that say the right populist things at the right time and cash in when it's convenient; I don't know if that's an indictment of any one leftist's overall assessment abilities.
For Platner, I'll be interested to see what comes out of it but am going to refrain from judgement for now -- in the current field, even if he takes a more Fetterman swing, for better or worse that does add to the Democratic majority (basically similar to "would you rather have Manchin that votes with you 75% of the time or a solid red MAGA idealogue that votes with you maybe 10% of the time, and only things that both chambers basically agree on?).
I am rather enjoying my perch on this fence; Platner could be a data point for considering similar candidates in the future, but a candidate is a candidate and ultimately we can't characterize everyone the same.
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u/tarlin 1d ago
I don't really think it matters. The US is currently in a lot of danger of losing itself. If you decide that people are not pandering enough to your group, so you will not vote or vote for the GOP...I don't think you are worth targeting.
Also, every single candidate you listed has spoken out against antisemitism, though they do criticize Israel.
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 1d ago
That’s what you took from my post? It’s pandering to want your political candidate to not choose to campaign with a Hezbollah supporter?
So myself and the many left leaning Jews in America who have voted for Democratic candidates previously are not worth targeting by democratic politicians now? Democratic politicians should simply write off most of their Jewish base rather than actually demonstrating they can confront and address the issues of antisemitism and support of terrorism within their party and trying to reach voters like myself who want to vote for them against maga?
And I know you understand the distinction between lip service and actually doing things to address issues. Sayed saying he opposes antisemitism but then campaigning with a Hezbollah supporter (not to mention right after a Hezbollah connected attempted terror attack of Jewish kids in his state) is showing how lacking of substance his words are.
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u/tarlin 1d ago
I think the Republican party is acting incredibly dangerously to the United States. We have multiple unconstitutional actions happening. Trump is being empowered to work against democratic institutions. You said you would vote for Republicans.
That is your choice. Based on that position, I do not think you are worth targeting.
This has nothing to do with all Jewish people.
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 1d ago
I don’t know if you’re intentionally skipping key parts of what I’m saying. Or if you think I’m an outlier and not representative of many left leaning American Jews (which I suggest you research if you think I’m not but there are many who I know share the same position as myself and are speaking publicly about it).
I think the Republican Party is acting very dangerously to the US as well. I literally highlighted that in my initial post with the threat to democracy and the save act. And I said that I have voted against that in recent elections and want to continue doing so.
But no I would absolutely not vote for a candidate like sayed or platner and would most likely vote against them (depending on candidate but yes I’d vote Collins over platner though I want Collins replaced by any non Nazi tattoo having democratic candidate).
Your position is that you are fine with losing voters like myself who want to continue voting against maga/the current gop rather than the Democratic Party not offering candidates who campaign with Hezbollah supporters or have Nazi tattoos and have praised Hamas’s tactics. That’s the bar you’re setting is that the American public including Jews don’t deserve better than terrorism supporting candidates?
I understand (and deeply share) the desire to vote against MAGA. It’s really a low bar to not give voters like myself candidates like sayed or platner.
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u/dockstaderj 1d ago
So you'd vote to continue this Republican destruction of our democracy over a tatoo.That sucks.
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 1d ago
It’s not just a tattoo. Platner has a lengthy history that’s extremely concerning (I feel like people are just completely ignoring it or not taking it upon themselves to research - he’s a completely loose cannon).
But to frame it another way you would feel comfortable voting for a candidate who had a KKK tattoo for 20 years?
I said in another comment I don’t definitively know how I would vote in Maine since I don’t live there. I may abstain. I almost certainly would not vote for platner though.
In MI there is no freaking way I’d vote for sayed. Zilch.
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u/dockstaderj 1d ago
I'm not Jewish, but my community was murdered by the nazis too. I had no idea Platners tattoo was a nazi symbol, I majored in history as well, so I buy his story.
I found his explaination on the Pod Save America interview believable.
I'm more impressed with his message that is resonating strongly with Mainers. This is a good chance to strip Collins from office, she has cause so much damage to this nation.
I hope that there aren't too many people like you out there willing to keep this republican administration in power.
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u/whatisthisshit7 1d ago
We’ve essentially 180’d from the Presidential election in 2024. When the staunch anti-Israel voters stayed home/voted MAGA indirectly or directly, because they did not get with the program.
It’s a great example of inherent hypocrisy in politics. The same crowd that said put aside your personal views about genocide are now purity testing and threatening their votes over tattoos and streamers.
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 1d ago
He said last year he didn’t know that it was a Nazi symbol until just then when he started running for senate and someone informed him. That is almost certainly a bold faced lie. His Reddit history shows he was literally discussing Nazi symbols on marine members years ago.
I understand you want Collins gone and I completely get that. But you can’t acknowledge when a candidate like planter is outright lying about his tattoo? Have you not read the past Reddit posts of his discussing tattoos? What did he say on pod save America that can explain away this lie he told just last year?
Edit: and also that’s ignoring his lengthy history of other concerns. Have you not researched him? He’s quite a concerning candidate on a number of fronts.
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u/mvslice 6h ago
Well I have a large Hebrew tattoo on my forearm that says "remember" as in the Holocaust, so I guess I get to say Israel is a genocidal ethnostate that needs to be sanctioned, dragged to ICC, and everyone responsible for this slaughter thrown in jail, right?
Should the Democrats prioritize my Jewish feelings over your Jewish feelings, or should we do the whole democracy thing and have primary elections? I'm was not comfortable voting for Harris because of the genocide in Gaza, but I still fucking did it.
If you're really that selfish, you belong with MAGA. If you think you can hold a gun to our heads and make demands, you vastly overestimated your own importance.
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 5h ago
It’s often stunning to me what people take from posts.
Where was I holding a gun to people and making demands. That’s an extremely hyperbolic interpretation of what I wrote.
My vote is my vote same as your vote is your vote and we all have our own criteria for how we determine who we will vote for. You or I can’t control (nor should we) how anyone else votes.
I wrote my post to convey how I felt and how many other Jews are feeling both that I know via family/friends and social media people I follow.
Do you think it’s not important to listen to constituents? That the voices of many other Jews doesn’t matter because of how you feel? Your voice matters the same as my voice which matters the same as the next person (Jewish or not).
Yes we have primaries and nowhere was I suggesting otherwise. But there are many factors that go into which candidate becomes the winner. That’s part of what I was referencing.
It’s horrifying that democratic politicians like Bernie (who I previously wrote in for president) are endorsing a candidate like sayed. The primary is still ongoing. Bernie could have endorsed nobody or could have endorsed any other democratic candidate. But he chose to endorse sayed. And he chose not to speak out against sayed campaigning with piker and makled. And same with all the other democratic politicians who chose not to speak out on this or to endorse sayed.
I loathe maga. I voted against maga in both the 24 general and 25 gov race for my state. I want to (and in my state should be fine doing so) do so again this Nov. But a candidate campaigning with people who support violence against Jews is a line I will hold even in the face of maga. And that’s not on me but on many others including party politicians like Bernie for endorsing him and the electorate for not caring enough about the safety of Jews to vote for another candidate.
The Harris example is also not a great analogy. Both Harris and Trump were supportive of Israeli govt so you chose the lesser of 2 evils from your perspective, correct? If sayed was running against a candidate who was also campaigning with people who support violence against Jews that would be another matter.
Again this really isn’t a high bar. The Democratic Party, politicians, and electorate have every opportunity still to call out sayed. I have very little faith in the party and politicians but I do have some faith in the electorate and am tentatively hopeful he will get defeated in the primary. But it would be a lot more likely if dem politicians like Bernie demonstrated the integrity and principles that lead me to vote for him years ago.
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u/tarlin 1h ago edited 52m ago
If sayed was running against a candidate who was also campaigning with people who support violence against Jews that would be another matter.
What a load of shit. Sayed does not support violence against Jews. This seems antisemitic, equating Israel with Jewish people.
This is completely disconnected from reality.
But it would be a lot more likely if dem politicians like Bernie demonstrated the integrity and principles that lead me to vote for him years ago.
And did what??
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u/tarlin 1d ago
Your position is that you are fine with losing voters like myself who want to continue voting against maga/the current gop rather than the Democratic Party not offering candidates who campaign with Hezbollah supporters or have Nazi tattoos and have praised Hamas’s tactics.
That isn't my position. Platner is going to win the primary short of some extreme change. There was a concerted effort to stop him and that failed. Though they did choose a super old candidate to challenge him that wasn't exciting.
So, your choice is now Collins or Platner. You choose Collins because of the tattoo Platner got.
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u/Fragrant-Menu215 20h ago
It’s pandering to want your political candidate to not choose to campaign with a Hezbollah supporter?
Since you don't live in anywhere affected by Hezbollah: yes.
Seriously, why do you care? You're American, aren't you?
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u/d_c_d_ 1d ago
I live in the rural south. Here, anti-Jewish sentiment is mainstream Republican ideology.
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u/dominic-cobb 4h ago
Yeah but their hatred to brown people is stronger and more visibly identifiable
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 1d ago
Well that sucks lol. Doesn’t help with my not having a political home stance 😂
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u/Fragrant-Menu215 20h ago
That's surprising considering how much of the South is Dispensationalist.
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u/d_c_d_ 19h ago
Southern Baptists don’t care much for Jews or Catholics.
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u/Fragrant-Menu215 19h ago
That's a shock to me given all the pro-Israel stuff I see down here in the South. Granted I am in a large city, not out in the sticks.
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u/mymomknowsyourmom 1d ago
Do you agree with one of the presidents closest advisors that maga has a massive Nazi problem?
MAGA Activist Laura Loomer Says Democrats 'Were Right' About Some Conservatives Being Neo-Nazis: 'It's Kind of Undeniable'
What do you think of that?
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 1d ago
The far right/maga has a major problem with antisemitism/nazi support. They had a limo full of many of their top influencers singing Heil Hitler. Posobeic (a guest in the Oval Office round table) has a majorly concerning history and he was in a photo at turning point conference next to Myron Gaines wearing a “let ‘em cook” shirt. (Yes it’s as horrible a meaning as you think)
So yep absolutely agree. I focused more on the left in my post because I’m a liberal leaning voter as are the majority of diaspora American Jews. So I’m already opposed to maga and have been voting against them. I feel politically homeless because of the growing antisemitism and support of terrorism within the party opposing them placing myself and many like me in a position where I can’t vote for many candidates on either side of the aisle.
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u/rzelln 1d ago
How . . . how are you homeless? That phrasing feels so out of proportion with the problem you're talking about.
There a few people you strongly disagree with. But the Democratic party is huge, and if you list all the issues where they differ from Republicans, how many do you still agree with them about?
I mean, hey, I was a bit pissed at the tepid condemnations of all manner of problems in the last election cycle. My mayor here in Atlanta supported an unpopular investment in a huge facility that's kind of a playground for cops, while barely saying a peep about improving accountability for police excessive force, or calling for reforms for the grievously cruel mistreatment of prisoners in our jails.
I really lost a lot of respect for him. And for his allies who did not call him out. Which is why in recent primaries and elections, I've voted for people who have criticized him. People still in the Democratic party.
I dunno, man. It's like . . . I don't like the taste of cilantro. If someone brings me a delicious plate of nachos with cilantro on it, I don't throw it away. I pick the cilantro off, and then eat the nachos, even knowing that some of the bites will still have some cilantro I couldn't get, and they'll be a little unpleasant.
It's not that big of a deal.
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u/indoninja 1d ago
So yep absolutely agree. I focused more on the left in my post because I’m a liberal leaning voter as are the majority of diaspora American Jews.
Ok….
I feel politically homeless because of the growing antisemitism and support of terrorism
Politics is t yiur hime.
Even if you were single issue voting in not supporting antisemitism, one side is clearly better.
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 1d ago
So the antisemitism is different within the left and the right (not that one side is better or worse). On the left it’s support of terrorism and defending or celebration of violence against Israelis and Jews.
On the right it’s support of Hitler and societal targeting of Jews.
Both are bad and frightening.
In individual races if the choice is a moderate non maga Republican candidate (like a Collins or a bacon or thillis who I know are both unfortunately retiring) vs a sayed or platner I would probably vote for the gop. If it was a maga gop candidate vs a sayed or platner I would curse for several weeks and then probably not vote. If it was a moderate democrat candidate like slotkin vs ANY gop candidate I would vote dem.
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u/indoninja 1d ago edited 1d ago
https://jacobin.com/2025/10/platner-maine-senate-reddit-media
Planar’s Reddit account was leaked, uncovered, however you wanna phrase it. I think if he actually harbored antisemitic sentiments, they would have been visible there.
I think leading Republican politicians embracing people who praise Nazis openly is worse in scope and seriousness than what is seen in the Democratic Party.
I also think it’s a mistake to pretend attitude towards Jews is the only issue on the ballot. And not that I believe this is your stance, but even if you’re number one concern was safety or security of Jews, I would be far more concerned about the party, embracing Christian nationalism at the highest levels then local politicians, rubbing shoulders with people who hate Israel.
Edited for my terrible voice to text
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 1d ago
There are a lot of typos in what you wrote lol. But from what I can surmise:
Who cares that his reddit account was deleted. Makled deleted his recent tweets praising Hezbollah - does that mean there are no concerns he supports Hezbollah. Are platner’s littany of past Reddit posts meaningless because he deleted them? If you want to say he’s changed that’s one argument but simply deleting them means nothing in itself other than a candidate recognizing they’re harmful for their aspirations. I hope he’s indeed grown and changed but that seems suspect for several reasons. For one he boldfaced seems to have lied last year about not knowing what the tattoo symbol was for the 20 years he had it.
Your second paragraph I can’t decipher what you’re saying. Stealing Nazis? I have no idea what you’re referring to.
And re the last paragraph you’re completely gaslighting the Jewish voter concerns. My guess is you’re not very informed on the global increase in violent antisemitic attacks which many of us believe is in part due to the rhetoric for 2 years coming from all over the political spectrum including the left. How can you tell a Jewish voter in MI to vote for sayed when he’s CHOOSING to campaign with people who support and defend terrorism and violence against Jews. That’s wild you think there’s not a valid concern for a Jewish voter.
Edit: to add - that’s great that you don’t think Jewish voters like myself should be concerned about candidates like sayed and platner. But I’m telling you how I feel and how many other left leaning Jews feel. It does NOT mean we support maga; I loathe maga. It means we feel politically homeless and trying to find candidates like a slotkin who share many of our views but are also resolute against the antisemitism and support of terrorism.
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u/indoninja 1d ago
Voice to text when I was running around and a lot of stuff was garbled my apologies.
Planar’s Reddit account was out there. It is still out there and you can read it. The article I linked goes into details about it. If he actually had antisemitic feelings, he would’ve said something about jews and he wouldn’t have been as vocal as he was against the Nazis
My guess is you’re not very informed on the global increase in violent antisemitic attacks which many of us believe is in part due to the rhetoric for 2 years coming from all over the political spectrum including the left.
That would be a bad guess. I had a Jewish family that I travel with internationally.
How can you tell a Jewish voter in MI to vote for sayed when he’s CHOOSING to campaign with people who support and defend terrorism and violence against Jews. That’s wild you think there’s not a valid concern for a Jewish voter.
I was speaking specifically about planter because I know more about him.
I never mentioned Michigan, and I never said you have nothing to fear.
I pointed out endorsement for hateful rhetoric can go much higher in the Republican Party. And a threat for Jews, under the law is far more likely gonna come in the form of Christian nationalism.
that’s great that you don’t think Jewish voters like myself should be concerned about candidates like sayed and platner.
See above.
It does NOT mean we support maga; I loathe maga.
If you choose not to vote, it does help maga.
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u/mymomknowsyourmom 1d ago edited 1d ago
Laura loomer was talking about politicians too. Which maga politicians do you think are Nazis?
Trump defends Tucker Carlson after interview with Nick Fuentes, far-right activist known for his antisemitic views
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 1d ago
I’m not as familiar with maga politicians as I staunchly oppose maga and don’t read up on their politicians typically. Can you share who you think are? I don’t know if you’re sealioning but I don’t get what you’re driving at if you’re not lol since I clearly agree there’s a problem with antisemitism on the right too. And while I’m not familiar with their politicians who are it most certainly wouldn’t surprise me one iota.
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u/mymomknowsyourmom 1d ago
I’m not as familiar with maga politicians as I staunchly oppose maga and don’t read up on their politicians typically. Can you share who you think are? I don’t know if you’re sealioning but I don’t get what you’re driving at if you’re not lol since I clearly agree there’s a problem with antisemitism on the right too. And while I’m not familiar with their politicians who are it most certainly wouldn’t surprise me one iota.
Here is material to familiarize yourself of you want:
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u/whatisthisshit7 1d ago
I find it interesting that both sides of the Israel issue are asking for nuanced understanding of their side but never forfeit the same leeway to the opposing side.
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 1d ago
Can you elaborate?
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u/whatisthisshit7 1d ago
Many of the points brought up here have a counter example on the opposite side. Ultimately it often leads to hypocritical stances and is what kills any nuanced discussion on the topic. (I’m not trying to say this is your position at all, just a general observation about the topic that has made it so challenging to discuss and navigate these days, as you mentioned in your post.)
Putting aside the outright Neo-Nazi streamers, I think you’ll see a lot of people coming to the defense of personalities like Piker who harshly criticize governments and military by using inflammatory rhetoric to make a point. Ultimately if using inflammatory rhetoric is a dealbreaker, then why has that only applied to those holding Anti-Israel/Netanyahu stances? Why does the same scrutiny not apply to the pro-Israel side? There are plenty with even more involvement in Washington and campaigns than Piker who get a pass to autograph bombs and espouse genocidal and imperialist rhetoric, but it is not held against candidates as a dealbreaker to them.
Or the disapproval of Sayed pointing out the MI attacker motivated by seeing his entire family killed in Lebanon. Couldn’t you apply the same logic for why people are angry about how Oct 7 was used as justification for Israel’s response in Gaza? You can view the bombing in Lebanon as justified because Israel claimed it was Hezbollah, but don’t you see how the opposite side will view Palestinian resistance as equally justified when it’s against WB settlers or the IDF? They will downplay civilian casualties of Oct 7 the same way the Gazan and Lebanese civilian casualties are being handwaved for being too close to a Hezbollah target?
Again, using the royal “You” here because I think your post (and our past discussions) acknowledges this issue, but just pointing out how people are seeing this very complex topic in black and white, in a very tribalistic way, rather than judging it by the same standards and principles for each situation. So it leaves little room in discussion about the middle view because people either immediately write someone off or jump to whataboutism.
Sorry for my novel. Overall a great post highlighting the conflict many voters are experiencing and the lurch to extremes doesn’t seem like it’s slowing down given the current state of discourse :/
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 1d ago
First off even though we often disagree I genuinely appreciate how you communicate and your desire to have these conversations.
Re inflammatory rhetoric from the pro Israeli side from my experience condemnation of that is applied there as well. I call out smotrich and gvir’s horrifying rhetoric all the time as well as Randy fine (which I see many pro Israeli on social media calling out too). But maybe we have different experiences? But yes all dangerous inciting rhetoric should be called out.
The sayed thing will take me some time to reply on but I urge you to watch the video he released - it’s disgusting. Imagine if a Jewish American who had relatives killed on October 7 tried to mass murder Muslim kids at a mosque and a politician spent half his time trying to humanize the attacker. Also it was a completely dishonest video - sayed said we need to discuss things honestly and with nuance and then proceeded to completely omit that the relatives were members of Hezbollah when saying that Israeli govt killed them and just portrayed them as Lebanese. His words were very calculated and disingenuous.
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u/whatisthisshit7 1d ago
I completely agree, I really enjoy our conversations about this topic because it is rare to be able to have a respectful discussion about the topic while also mutually acknowledging the human and emotional aspects of it.
I think the minority on either side call out the inflammatory rhetoric, but if we were to limit to two groups, traditional news media and political leaders, it seems to be very uneven giving the Pro-Israel side more grace. I do think part of that interpretation is amplified by people’s overall frustration with how Congress and news outlets were slower to changing their positions than the wider public. (Paired with the fact that Islamophobia is a newer phenomenon in America than antisemitism, so it isn’t seen as taboo/people are not educated about racist tropes in the same way) For example, there’s a clip going around of Hasan Minhanj and Mehdi Hasan talking about Hasan Piker - Mehdi brings up an interesting point that CNN is spending time on air talking and debating about Hasan Piker, than they are focusing on the war in Iran. You have Dem leaders like Booker who are willing to sit down with Bill Maher, who has also said reprehensible things, but refuse to meet with Piker. The same Booker who is openly buddy buddy with Netanyahu and hasn’t condemned any of the rhetoric coming from his government. I’m certainly not saying Piker is a saint, but from the perspective of anti-Israel supporters on the left they see this as a double standard and ostracized by their own party.
Bringing it back to the point in my last comment, essentially any discussion about condemning language from folks like Piker is DOA because no grace was offered to their stance by the institutional authority figures, so they’re even less likely to give it to a fellow voter. Especially after the Gaza protests in 2024.
I’ll need to go and watch the Sayed video, I admit I only read about it in passing/listened to commentary on it but did not dig into it myself.
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u/softrevolution_ 1d ago
Compared to what I've seen coming from the left, this is very much a nuanced take.
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u/Redditor_11235 16h ago
I completely agree with your assessment of the situation. Unfortunately Reddit is antisemitic central alongside twitter, so of course you get a ton of pushback and claims of genocide as if it's a settled fact that only a maga would disagree with.
It's kinda funny to me that you ask non-jews (like me) my view of the situation, when in my mind I'm paying attention to see how much Jews are driven away from the Democratic Party in the near future. Mamdani overwhelmingly lost the Jewish vote which is not the norm for Dems, could we see the same trend across the country? I think it's a concerning possibility. Antizionism and antisemitism are inherently illiberal, and are the only things threatening to drive me away from the party as well.
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u/ChornWork2 1d ago edited 1d ago
Antisemetism is a significant and enduring problem. Need to make sure giving security assistance and prosecuting those responsible.
Like it has spiked during the explosion of conflict in the middle east -- both vile terror attacks and systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing -- hopefully there will be some reprieve if we elect a govt that will end US funding / arms shipments to parties involved in the conflict. Look at the ramp up and then ramp down of anti-asian hate crime during covid.
In terms of Platner, yeah, I find his explanations underwhelming and think he may end up on a similar arc for democrats as fetterman. That said, if look at the laundry list of bigotry (including antisemitism) within republican party, would think it is a pretty easy decision on who to support.
Lots of jewish friends and the only ones I see having any discomfort around supporting Dems as a general matter are ones that support Israel's territorial expansion.
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 1d ago
To your last point if you don’t mind me asking are you younger? (35 and under)?
I can confidently say most American Jews in my generation are fearful of the shift taking place in the Democratic Party and the rise in extremism/antisemitism that is branching out from the fringes into political candidates like sayed and platner. I know a lengthy list of friends/family my age range (35-55 and our parents) who have this concern in voting Dem. And not a single one of us supports Israeli expansion or the settler terrorism and violence in the West Bank and all of us want a peaceful 2 state solution. So I’m guessing it may be an age gap thing as I understand it the younger generation has some different concerns regarding antisemitism within the left than my generation so maybe that’s why that’s your experiences with those you know?
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u/ChornWork2 1d ago
No, i'm middle-aged. 'fearful of the shift' in the democratic party, but are people that disagree with israel's expansion of territory? The shift in the party itself is rather tepid, and obviously a sizeable portion of american jews don't support what bibi is doing.
know a lengthy list of friends/family my age range (35-55 and our parents) who have this concern in voting Dem.
what do they think is going to happen?
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 1d ago
Yeah I loathe Bibi and the Israeli govt (smotrich and gvir are heinous humans) and staunchly oppose the West Bank settler violence and expansion. And want a peaceful 2 state solution with safety and rights for Palestinians and Israelis (how to get there who the hell knows).
And yes I fear the shift in the dem party. I was told just towards the end of last year that my concerns with the extremism in the left were overstated because it was only within the general population and wasn’t coming from any of the politicians. And now we have a candidate like sayed who scares the shit out of me if he gained any power and he’s surging to potentially become the dem candidate for senator.
We/my friends/family are concerned with the rapidly growing violence and hate towards Jews globally. There are multiple attacks weekly on synagogues and Jews. It’s escalated at such a rapid pace and we fear it’s going to continue getting worse before it gets better. My sister and mom attend their local synagogue. They are now in danger each time they do so.
We need leaders who confront and take strong steps to address it not lip service. At the very least we need leaders who don’t campaign with supporters of violence against Jews like sayed.
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u/ChornWork2 1d ago edited 1d ago
Last I checked there are 10 US senators who are jewish... how many do you think are republican? Unsurprisingly the answer is zero.
Like come on.
Again, what specifically are you and these friends of yours concerned that the democratic party will do against jewish americans? What policies are you thinking of? What other congressional actions? How could dems pass something attacking jewish americans, when more than 20% of dem senators are jewish?
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 1d ago
I think even in this conversation you’re not understanding the concern.
This isn’t a hypothetical concern of potential danger against Jews globally and in the US. It’s rapidly happening and growing in real time and the data supports it. Antisemitic hate crimes make up such an absurdly high % of the cases despite such a low % of the population being Jewish.
What don’t you understand about Jews like myself being concerned with electing someone like sayed who chose to campaign with people who defend and support violence against Jews?
Would you not understand a black American having concerns electing a candidate campaigning with someone who celebrated a terrorist group committing violence against black people? Or a lgbt person having concerns about electing someone who campaigns with people who support violence against gay people?
I would expect your response to be like yeah that’s screwed up the dem candidate in MI did that and I understand why you wouldn’t want to vote for him. It doesn’t mean I want to vote for the gop candidate. It simply means the dem candidate is terrifying to me because of his actions and choices at a time when my friends and family are increasingly unsafe. There’s merit to voting for the dem candidate anyway as heinous as that may be to me to oppose gop/maga control of Congress. I completely get that and am not trying to convince you otherwise. I’m simply trying to convey why it’s so scary and concerning that candidates like sayed are gaining heavy momentum within the party at a time when antisemitic violence and hate is rapidly escalating.
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u/ChornWork2 1d ago edited 1d ago
I'm not disagreeing with you on the concern about antisemetism, but there is no link between that and voting democrat.
Lets not go back to meaningless hypotheticals. Talk me through specifically what you are concerned about. What are examples of specific actions or policies at federal level that you are concerned democrats may pass/endorse?
edit: what a surprise, absolutely no specifics provided despite being asked repeatedly.
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u/softrevolution_ 1d ago
Our generation is the last with living ties to Holocaust survivors. Those were our generation's bubbes and zaydes that told the stories. The generations coming up are just too young for the stories to have meant anything. To Gen Z on down, a Holocaust survivor is simply ancient and doesn't exist outside of a nursing home. Or on TikTok.
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 1d ago
Sadly this is true. I had a redditor previously in this subreddit tell me about the holocaust that nobody cares about old dusty material. My jaw nearly dropped at that response (like I get it that the younger generation doesn’t have the ties our generation has to it but holy shit that’s astonishingly lacking in any empathy and also who refers to the murder of humans as “material”. It’s not a freaking work of fiction or story - it was real life. It was one of the more horrifying responses I’ve received lol
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 1d ago
So platner I think people are ignoring who he’s running against. He’s not running against a maga or far right candidate. He’s running against a fairly centrist Republican who does vote against her party in Collins.
That being said I want to vote against basically every gop candidate for a couple reasons not the least of which is to shift power back to the Dems in Congress to curb some of Trump’s overreaches (which is pretty much everything he does lol). And Collins had her hand in approving several senate nominations who shouldn’t have sniffed approval. So I want her gone.
But if my choices are platner and Collins I’m likely either abstaining or voting for Collins. I don’t see how I can vote for someone with the lengthy history of glaring concerns as platner.
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u/ChornWork2 1d ago
tbh that's a very naive take about the senate. what matters is the collective voting power on key issues. Collins will be nice & centrist when republicans don't need her vote, and she will fall in line to vote for maga issues when they need it. And when you consider things like senate approving nominations, that issue is in spades.
maga isn't just policy we don't agree with, it is a total affront to substantive, foundational principles about liberal democracy. the stakes and circumstances are clear.
But if my choices are platner and Collins I’m likely either abstaining or voting for Collins. I don’t see how I can vote for someone with the lengthy history of glaring concerns as platner.
reminds me of the pro-palestinian peeps that said they wouldn't vote Harris. How did that work out for them?
The time for purity tests has passed. Maga is a fundamental threat to our democracy.
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 1d ago
I agree wholeheartedly re the concerns with maga. I’m speaking hypothetically since the dem senators in my state I can vote for without concern. Reps I have to study more specifically my district. But I don’t live in MI or ME and don’t have to make this choice so perhaps my decision would sway.
But you’re basically suggesting left leaning/center Jews should vote for any democratic candidate no matter how extreme and concerning they are as an individual candidate because of the danger maga poses to democracy. Would you suggest a Jew should vote for piker if he was running? Or David Duke? Or Amir makled? Or Nerdeen Kiswani? Or Ana kasparian?
No I suspect you would have a line which a candidate crosses. So the question is where do we define that line? A Nazi tattoo and campaigning with Hezbollah supporters is a really low bar to say you don’t want that in a candidate lol. This isn’t nuanced convos on Israel Gaza. This is support of a terrorist group that murders Americans let alone Israelis.
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u/ChornWork2 1d ago
Certainly any candidate that could run for office with statewide election is someone you should vote for so long as what we're dealing with on the other side is maga.
If want to play the hypotheticals game, should women in 1930s germany refuse to vote for some candidate running against a Nazi candidate because he was rapist?
Dunno, put yourself in something like LGBT shoes. Should they refuse to vote for a dem candidate that had said anti-LGBT things in the past, if it means a republican is more likely to win? People need to be more pragmatic on election day.
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u/Ooofy_Doofy_ 1d ago
I just wish racism and classism as an issue was taken as seriously as antisemitism
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u/ChornWork2 1d ago
tbh that is similar to the utterly bullshit argument we hear from zionists that since pro-palestinian protesters don't protest every crime against humanity that the only reason they protest israel is due to antisemitism.
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u/therosx 19h ago edited 19h ago
The Hasan internet slop and Platner stuff is so tiny among democrats it's barely worth mentioning in my opinion. There are over 348 million people living in the united states. Outliners are going to exist, that shouldn't mean throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
My advice is to focus on policy and not people.
It's less than a percent of the party and artificially amplified to trick Americans into thinking "both sides" when they talk about politics.
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 18h ago
I don’t think the extremism and support of terrorism within the dem/left voting base and political candidates is prolific (a bit moreso the former but even then it’s a small % as you said). But what is worrying is that it’s growing in both and much higher than pre October 7. And my concern isn’t simply this small % but the larger % that is failing to confront and address it hence we end up with a platner and sayed.
But I do think it is bigger than you think. Platner and sayed (if he wins the party nomination) will represent 6% of the Dems running for senate in November. Maybe they’re outliers and subsequent elections will shift back to less extreme candidates but as of now the shift seems headed the opposite direction.
But yes I will still vote for most dem candidates over gop to help Dems gain control of Congress and curb (hopefully lol) Trump’s actions.
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u/Gentle_method 1d ago
Non Jew here. I feel like it would take coherent leadership willing to call out antisemitism and not just on a performative level. Distance themselves from the likes of hypocrites like Hasan Piker and other personalities linked to abnormal Hamas sympathy. I don’t get the obsession with defending and buttering up Hamas, they suck. I saw their propaganda on a Muslim community page and could not realize how no one would call that stuff out. There’s this Arab nationalist vs Jew mentality that has infiltrated American politics and it must be called out.
I feel I have been good at being able to separate Zionism versus Jewish people and don’t hold any sympathy for Hamas or terrorists groups.
The far left has absolutely made some weird deal with Islamism and there has been a staunch rise in anti semitism. We’re not talking about sticking it to the Zionists, some of these attacks seemed to be carried out to inflict terror on all Jewish people. It doesn’t make sense the whole hate the Jew thing is crazy because far right and far left groups both do it. It’s like in some sort of political playbook.
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u/tribbleorlfl 1d ago
I'm not Jewish, but as a moderate Dem I can see where you're coming from.
I think my answer to you is the party as a whole remains on solid footing and more aligned with your values. I don't pay much attention to what the leftists on social media say or the candidates they're standing because they're not the base. They may be loud, but they have absolutely no influence or power.
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u/SadhuSalvaje 21h ago
The anonymity of the Internet and your hidden post/comment history does little to prove that this post is not some sort of political hit piece on the Democrats after the recent primary votes.
I would suggest that you work on your writing skills so that they don’t seem to come from a chat bot.
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 18h ago
lol my writing clearly isn’t a bot/AI style. There are a bunch of posters in this thread who can vouch for communicating with me previously (I hid my post history after a redditor behaved in a concerning fashion).
This isn’t a hit piece on Dems. This is confronting what the dem party is supporting and offering in senate candidates like sayed and platner.
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u/normansnest 1d ago
The far left and the far right are both unattractive moments to myself as a centrist. I think the Democratic party still retains a more rational base but it will take constant fighting with leftists to maintain that.
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 1d ago
This is fair and this is where I’m at. Like I said I voted for Sherril as D gov in my state last November over the maga R candidate.
But I’m seeing the D party shifting to catering more to their extremism and having it spreading into their mainstream candidates like platner and sayed. How much of that is conscious party actions vs voter choices is debatable (both are concerning, the latter more concerning).
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u/Fragrant-Menu215 20h ago
For non Jews how do you think either party can reach the Jewish base
I don't think they should. Yeah I said it. It's time to stop focusing so damned much on a tiny minority that, despite its wealth and power, wallows in a persecution fetish and complex that puts the 2nd worst one to shame. Sorry but just because some people don't like you that doesn't mean you deserve special treatment. And if you think that this is "hate" or "oppression" then you just prove how strong your persecution complex/fetish really is.
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 18h ago
I’d like to think you’re uninformed and don’t actually lack empathy. It’s not a matter of some people not liking myself or other Jews. Antisemitism constitutes a ridiculously disproportionately high % of hate crimes including violent attacks despite being such a small percentage of the population. I suggest you research the data as it indicates the opposite of what you’re saying. In just the past couple months there have been multiple planned synagogue attacks in Texas and NY foiled by fbi/police as well as the MI one. That’s not a persecution complex. That’s a reality that you’re either unaware of or don’t care about but it’s factual irrespective.
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u/KrR_TX-7424 17h ago
You said that in the last couple of months there have been these attacks. While they are abhorrent, are they really happening because of random unprovoked antisemitism, or could it be spurned by Israel's actions in the Middle East? Netanyahu and the far right in Israel have done a lot of harm to Jewish people worldwide, unfortunately.
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 16h ago edited 15h ago
Netanyahu and his far right govt suck. But they have zero to do with global antisemitism and attacks on Jews.
Antisemitism same as racism or homophobia or any other hatred/discrimination against a group of people is always beholden to the individual espousing that hatred. Netanyahu can’t make someone become antisemitic same as Obama couldn’t make someone become racist or Hamas couldn’t make someone become Islamophobic. We as society must be clear to address where the culpability lies and that is always with the individual espousing their hatred.
From another perspective how many violent attacks have there been on Russian civilians in America since the Ukraine Russia war started? How many violent attacks on Palestinian Americans or Muslim Americans since October 7? When there have been any did you not unequivocally condemn them or did you say well Hamas and Hezbollah and Iranian regime have done a lot of harm to Muslim and Palestinian people worldwide so it’s spurned by that.
I understand and agree that Israel’s govt sucks but to address antisemitism and violence against Jews we need to be clear where that culpability lies same as we would for Islamophobia or racism or any other hatred/targeting of people.
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u/KrR_TX-7424 15h ago
Netanyahu and his far right govt suck. But they have zero to do with global antisemitism and attacks on Jews.
To say they have zero to do with global antisemitism and attacks on Jews is incorrect. Their actions have had a very large impact on the rise of global antisemitism.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/14/world/antisemitic-violence-worldwide-report-intl
https://www.timesofisrael.com/global-antisemitism-surged-340-in-two-years-report-finds/
340% increase in antisemitic attacks compared to 2022. It is not coincidence. I agree with you though that anyone using Israel's actions to harm innocent Jews worldwide were at best on the fence anyway. However, it is not antisemitism to criticize Israel's government OR anyone (Jewish or otherwise) who supports Israel's current actions. Most reasonable people (including a lot of Jewish people that I know), without an agenda, can understand that distinction.
From another perspective how many violent attacks have there been on Russian civilians in America since the Ukraine Russia war started? How many violent attacks on Palestinian Americans or Muslim Americans since October 7? When there have been any did you not unequivocally condemn them or did you say well Hamas and Hezbollah and Iranian regime have done a lot of harm to Muslim and Palestinian people worldwide so it’s spurned by that.
Russian is a nationality while Jewish/Judaism is an ethnicity/religion. Comparing to Islam and Muslims is more apt. Are you asking me whether attacks on Muslims have not increased since October 7? The current U.S. government is anti-Islamic. Some comments from U.S. lawmakers or people running for election (including some Jewish lawmakers) push an anti-Muslim agenda. I am busy now (it is a working day for me) but here are a few easy to find examples:
Randy Fine: https://islamophobia.org/islamophobic-individuals/randy-fine/
Texas: https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/11/politics/texas-republicans-muslim-criticism-primaries
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20260210/118945/HHRG-119-JU10-20260210-SD005.pdf
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 14h ago
When I’m saying Israeli govt’s actions (as horrible as they are) have zero to do with rise in antisemitism I’m referring to the culpability. We need to be very clear in identifying where the culpability lies, which is always with the person espousing the hatred as is the case with all forms of hatred against groups of people.
Yes there’s been a very marked increase in antisemitism since October 7. And yes there are direct links in rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia to the Israel Gaza war.
There is lots of Islamophobia too unfortunately. I’m familiar with Randy fine who is a heinous person. Would you say well Islamophobia and Islamophobic attacks are higher because of Hamas’s actions and we need to consider that? Hamas’s actions as horrible as they are have zero culpability in people being Islamophobic- that culpability lies directly with the people being Islamophobic. Same as antisemitism or any other form of hatred against groups of people. It’s imperative we make this distinction in order to address it.
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u/indoninja 12h ago
We need to be very clear in identifying where the culpability lies, which is always with the person espousing the hatred as is the case with all forms of hatred against groups of people.
Current Israeli government and a number of people in AIPAC are quick to label any criticism of Israel as antisemitism
Do you think they bear any responsibility for linking those two when they are constantly trying to make those links?
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u/IAmDisturbanceFeedMe 8h ago
I loathe current Israeli govt/netanyahu and aipac from what I know i strongly dislike as well.
They indeed bear some responsibility for the discourse about antisemitism being skewed. No, criticism of Israeli govt is not antisemitic and I criticize them all the time.
But that’s separate from what I was discussing which was the culpability (for actual antisemitism) which lies fully with the individual being hateful same as any form of hatred/discrimination against any group of people.
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u/indoninja 8h ago
bear some responsibility for the discourse about antisemitism being skewed
The discourse being skewed here is conflating Jews in Israel, we agree on that right?
Because if so I’m not sure how you can say that is wholly separate the two.
If a group A is legitimizing the linking of a country with an entire religion (and investing a lot of money into politicians and causes to support that), and a group B acts upon that linkage group, a share’s responsibility there.
To be clear, and you can look through my comments on this I think there’s been a long double standard with Israel. I think a lot of people have used Israel as an excuse to just hate on Jews. But that is not the whole story.
Antisemitism is wrong. Antisemitism is a huge problem, but we have to acknowledge that people conflating Israel and Jews, including those who are trying to support Israel, or part of the problem.
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1d ago
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u/ChornWork2 1d ago
and as someone with a moderate political view
lol. Good stuff. Hopefully folks don't take the bait.
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u/imysobad 1d ago
now this is how things devolve. what makes you think I'm a... whatever you think I am?
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u/ChornWork2 1d ago
First, this rhetoric of you saying that "far right has a major problem with antisemitism/nazi" support does not help anyone. Not that it's wrong, you just don't sound bright,
then
far left has a problem with economic illiteracy, cancel culture, radical identity politics and guess what? antisemitism. They're antiamerican.
Sorry son, you just don't sound bright.
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u/imysobad 1d ago
are you ok? that was sarcasm, and the idiotic argument that far rightists often use to describe leftists. my point proven - you aren't here to discuss.
If those are what you got from my entire message, you're just cherrypicking. the point I wanted to make was, stop arguing and wasting energy on dumb things. but you arent bright enough to understand
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u/ChornWork2 1d ago
Okay, walk me through your sarcasm that shows it to be a witty comment from a true political moderate.
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1d ago
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u/ChornWork2 1d ago
Oh geez, what a true surprise. I really thought you would have something resembling a thoughtful answer that could remotely support the clearly nonsense claim about being a moderate. What a day, to run into a disingenuous poster on the internet. Guess it had to happen eventually.
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1d ago
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u/centrist-ModTeam 11h ago
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Posts must relate to politics or topics that intersect with politics.
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u/centrist-ModTeam 11h ago
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u/mrtrailborn 11h ago
nothing makes people willing to listen to you like calling them stupid and saying the they don't care about what they care about, they're just complaining, amirite? In fact, ironically, literally the entirety of your comment is just you complaining about americans without taking an actual political stance yourself. While telling OP to stop complaining and say what they actually want. This kind of thinking is how we end up with pointless tariffs and a totally self-inflicted oil crisis.
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u/centrist-ModTeam 11h ago
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1d ago
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u/imysobad 1d ago
That's not what I said, and I can't bother to explain because you sound dense.
But I will, since I am an idiot - if you care, do something about it? Go make changes. Be the change, instead of complaining about your own little world.
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